Possible new house....

Nothing is for sure just yet... we sent over the final offer that the seller is supposed to sign yesterday.  The seller is in some financial trouble so we have to get approval from his bank before we can celebrate.

If things work out, this will be Niko's new house by August 1!  It's located behind North Kansas City Hospital.  The cool thing about this neighborhood is that it is built between two parks.   The woods behind this house are part of Sunset Park so they will never be developed.  The house itself is on a cul-de-sac with a treed lot.  We are going to need a riding mover... it's on a half-acer lot!

Time to get those moving muscles ready to go!

Minnesota '09 trip

Neil and Niko in front of the iconic Minnesota sculpture.

Niko cut his top two teeth during our Minnesota trip.  We had him chew on some rib bones to help the teeth come through.  He loved it..... even thought it was nasty to watch.

 
Here is Niko playing with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Julio.

Niko loved playing with his second cousin Alexis.

Here we are at the farmer's market in Minnesota.  We are here with Phil who is married to Ericka (Neil's second cousin), Aunt Maria and Neil.

We had a great trip!  We went to the sculpture garden, farmers market and the zoo.  Not too bad considering it was only a weekend trip!  :)

DVD fun

Look at that face... he is really studying that DVD!  It's funny that no matter how many toys are around, he wants to play with the everyday things!

9 month photo

I finally got around to scanning this photo.  Here is Niko's 9 month photo!  :)

First baseball game!

Niko went to his first baseball game last night.  Shockingly.... Niko was really, really good.  He hung out in my lap and chilled most of the game.  He loves being outside and I think there was a lot of stuff for him to look at.

Escape from the cage!

I knew it was just a matter of time before he figured out that the cage was not secure.  Here he is escaping from the cage - he got all out and laughed all the way to the patio doors, which he loves.

Table food

I would say that Niko is officially on table food.  I didn't quite mean for it to happen, but he would STARE at us when we would eat and move his mouth up and down.  He would swipe at our plates if we got too close so we gave him some and Niko has never looked back.

On the up side...  I don't even want to say it out loud for fear of jinxing it, but someone has been doing something all night since we have been on table food!   ZZZZzzzzzzz

One of our favorite meals is pulled pork, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and blueberries.

9 month check-up

Sorry for the crappy cell phone photo....  I forgot to give my camera to Neil this morning.  

Niko had his 9 month physical yesterday.  He is very healthy boy!  He is 29" long (75th percentile) and weighs 21 pounds 7 ounces (50-75th percentile).   The best thing is that he is growing into his massive head - it was in the 97th percentile - now it's in the 60th.

This morning was his 9 month hearing test.  From now on he will get checked annually thanks to him failing his first two tests and my family history.  Neil took him to the test and he did great!  He didn't react to some of the softer sounds, but the doctor said that was not uncommon.  Whew!

I want REAL food

Dinner time has always been a bit tricky.   He is generally a good eater, but it's not uncommon to have some tears at dinner time.  He goes from wanting to eat to crying in a heartbeat some nights.

Lately he eats his puffs great, then when it comes time for cereal or other baby food it's tear time.  Last night it was massive-freak out time.  We have been giving him some table food recently because he has shown a MAJOR interest in it.

After a few puffs, he had some pork tender loin, some bread dipped in some baby food and desert was fresh fruit.  I don't know what the problem is with him not wanting baby food at dinner.  Is it the texture?  Is is the fact he wants to feed himself?

I wonder if it's because he sees us eating it and he wants it.  He doesn't see us eating out of plastic tubs.... and I would imagine that our food smells a lot better than his food.

Craigslist jem

I have been looking for this table at garage sales, but had no luck finding it.  I looked on Craigslist yesterday and someone had just listed it.  

Even though I work for a toy store, I can't bring myself to buy these kind of toys new unless it's a birthday or holiday.  I just don't like paying a bunch of money for a toy he might not even like!  

I picked up this toy for $20 and it's in perfect condition - it's $45 new.